peatt



UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.'

H. T. PRATT, OF FITOHBURG, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO I-IIMSELF, A. DAVIS, AND E. PRATT, OF SAME PLAGE, AND H. O. OREHORE AND O. T. ROGERS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

FOLDING CHAIR.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 30,858, dated December 4, 1860.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY T. PRATT, of Fitchburg, in the county of Vorcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and Improved Folding Chair; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the saine, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure I, is a side view of my invention in an unfolded state ready for use. Fig. 2 is a side view of the same in a folded state. Fig. 8, is a front vieiv of the same in an unfolded state ready for use.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

The object of this invention is to obtain a chair that may be folded compactly and be provided with a cane or other stiff bottorn. There are chairs constructed to fold quite compactly, but those chairs, so far as I am aware have a flexible seat composed of webbing, carpet or other textile fabric. By my invention a chair may be folded equally as compact as those provided with fiexible bottoms and have all the advantage of an ordinary cane seated chair or one upholstered in any of the known ways.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct my invention, I will proceed to describe it.

A, A B, B, represent the legs of the chair which are crossed at each side, the back legs B, B extending forward to the front and the front legs extending backward to the back part of the chair as shown clearly in Fig. l; the legs B B extend upward sufficiently to form side pieces for the back frame a of the chair. A filling of cane or upholstery work may be iitted in said frame to form the back of the chair. In the drawings a cane filling C is represented.

D represents the seat of the chair which may be formed of a quadrilateral frame provided with an upholstered or cane filling E the latter' being represented. The seat is attached at its front end to the tops of the legs A by hinges or joints b, and the back of the seat is attached by hinges or joints c to the centers of the legs B or rather to the centers of the strips which form the side pieces for the back frame and the legs B, the portion of the strips below the seat being strictly the only part pertaining to or forming the office of legs.

The inner sides of the legs A, A are slotted longitudinally as shown at d; the slots as well as the legs a are curved, their upper parts forming parts of circles of which the joints or hinges c are the centers. See Fig. l. The inner sides of the legs A may be faced with metal to prevent wear, and the legs B B have pins e attached to their outer sides, said pins fitting in the slots CZ, in the legs A.

Atthe lower ends of the slots Z there are notches f one notch being in each leg A and at the bottom of its slot. These notches are made of such a size as to receive the pins e of the legs B. The notches f and pins e form catches to retain the chair in an open or unfolded state, as shown in Figs. l and 3, and each slot is provided at its lower end with a spring g. These springs have a tendency to prevent the casual displacement of the pins e from the notches See Fig. l.

I/Vhen the chair is not designed foruse, the legs A are slightly raised so as to free the pins e from the notches f, and the legs and seat may then be eompactly folded as shown in Fig. 2. Thus it will be seen that a rigid cane or upholstered seat may be used and the chair folded very oompactly so as to monopolize but little room.

I do not claim separately a folding chair formed of crossed legs with one pair of legs extended to form side pieces for the back, for such arrangement has been used with a flexible bottom, but

I doclaim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent The legs A, A, B, B and seat D, the latter being attached to the former by hinges or joints b, b c, c and the legs A provided with slots Z to receive pins e of the legs B, B, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

HENRY T. PRATT. l/Vitnesses W. J. MERRIAM, GEORGE SHERWIN. 

